Duality
by valkyria422
Summary: Novelization of Xenoblade X sidequests. As members of BLADE, it is one's duty to explore Mira, fight off monsters, and assist citizens of NLA. New recruits Cross and X will do their best as BLADE members to solve problems, meet new people, and confront threats against the city. But most of all, they learn about themselves and each other, even though their pasts are out of reach.
1. Ideals - A Hero's Ride

**Duality**

Series Summary: A side novelization of Xenoblade X sidequests that takes place alongside the main fanfiction _Uncontrollable_. As a member of BLADE, it is one's duty to explore Mira, fight off monsters, and assist citizens of New Los Angeles. Recruits Cross and X will do their best as new BLADE members to further the organizations cause, meet new people, and face threats against NLA from outsiders and citizens of the lone city. But most of all, they'll learn about themselves and each other, even though their pasts are out of reach...

1\. Ideals - A Hero's Ride

Summary: With their first free time for themselves, the two new BLADE recruits wander the Commercial District to meet a man who has a deep attraction to the ideals of heroism and justice. One of them is flattered by such, but the other couldn't help but wonder what's truly behind the passion of those ideals...

 **Notes: It is highly recommended to read at least chapter 1 of the fanfiction _Uncontrollable_ , as it ties in, describes and gives premise of the two avatar characters featured in this story. As mentioned in the other fanfiction, the two avatar characters Cross and X will maintain a studious and peppy personality respectively along with their respective voices. For their appearance, refer to my profile, the main story image, and the other fanfiction.**

 **Very, very minor details in dialogue and description of scenes have been edited to add a bit flair, but the overall story and outcome of the sidequests will not change. Dialogue has been slightly changed to incorporate the fact that two avatars are present. Dialogue choices and responses that will be presented are the choices that most closely resemble the personalities of the given avatars. In such, sometimes they will have the same responses. And sometimes, they will not. The times when they will diverge in responses may or may not incorporate the two differing responses from NPCs.**

 **To advance the pacing and prevent dragging of the plot of sidequests, the entire process of collecting items will not be featured and be summarized instead. There will be exceptions, however. Likewise with battles.**

 **Lastly, this is the very first sidequest the avatars will undergo chronologically. After this sidequest, all other sidequests can be read in any order, except for the obvious ones that are continuations of others, and sidequests that can only take place after the story has advanced to a certain point. For reference, this sidequest takes place after the mission with Tatsu's recruitment.**

* * *

X skipped her way across Armory Alley and made her way to the BLADE Barracks, unaware of the strange glances of passing faces. It is now the next day since she underwent a mission and met Tatsu, her newfound adorable Nopon friend.

Earlier, she took a stroll along the Residential District, which was one of the last few places in New LA that she hasn't explored yet. This was also the first free time period Elma granted her and Cross that would last for over 6 hours, so she decided to take advantage of it by exploring the city. It took about an hour and half of strolling to take in sights of the Residential District and to briefly say hi to friendly faces. (Unfortunately, she didn't remember names all too well.) She wanted to hit up some new places to shop. To make the trip more amusing, she'd had to drag the one person who'd be least interested in her little adventure, yet easily give in to her demands for some reason…

As she entered the Barracks, X walks right in and makes a left turn to find the one person she was looking for.

X had a smirk on her face as she makes her way near the lounge and bar of the barracks quietly, tiptoeing her way across the lobby.

Cross was sitting on the bar chair, looking down on his communicator as if he was in his own little world as he stared intensely on the small blue screen.

Ever since Elma gave him the communicator about three days ago, he would squeeze any idle time he had to read on the large archives that was available to all BLADE members. Usually, he'd be reading articles relating to Earth, Mira, BLADE, New LA, and other subjects relating to his current situation. For example, his first usage of the archives had him reading about Earth, and then he delved into specifics, such as the formation of its continents, oceans, and atmosphere, the evolution of mankind, geography, and geology. And he dove into more specifics, such as the rotation, magnetic fields, biosphere…

X approached Cross and stood behind him and knelt down to his eye level. She licked the bottom of her lips and touched her left index finger with it. With an evil grin and quiet chuckle, she moved her left index finger smothered with her saliva slowly towards Cross' left ear-

Until a sudden hand grabs a hold onto her wrist. X gasped as she saw Cross' left hand grasping her wrist while he was still in the same sitting position reading his communicator.

"H-Hey! How'd you-"

"I heard your footsteps even though you were tiptoeing across the barracks. And you were breathing down my neck and I heard you laugh albeit quietly… that's very unsettling. Try holding your breath next time." Cross bluntly answered X, eyes still glued to his communicator.

X forcefully swung her wrist to her left to remove Cross' grip from her. "Well, you dug your grave! Now that you told me what to do, I'll definitely get you next time!"

"Sure…" Cross mutters, resting his left arm on the bar table after losing grip on X's wrist. Completely changing the subject, he asks X, "Did you know that despite various results in research, there's a general consensus that it takes more muscles to smile than to frown?"

X rolled her eyes at his nerdy gesture.

If he needed a break from a specific topic in his reading, Cross randomly searches words to hopefully jog any memories and in the process, gain random knowledge. Despite learning many trivial facts that he habitually tells X whenever awkward silence occurs between them, to change topics whenever he felt uncomfortable in conversation, (much to X's annoyance at times) and to show off his newfound knowledge and impress X, he unfortunately was unable to trigger any past memories from his hazy mind.

X steps around Cross to his right side and places her right hand over Cross's communicator, making his right hand and the communicator lie flat on the bar table. She looks into Cross' eyes and mockingly replies, "Ohh… no wonder you're so angry-looking all the time… You're too lazy to smile!"

Falling into her trap, Cross retorts, "Not true." X didn't see Cross lips form a frown since the Survival Veyes covered his nose, cheeks, and mouth, but his brows arching downward and his eyes proved otherwise.

"See? Anyways, I guess you've been reading all morning. You need some fresh air, so how about you join me to visit the Commercial District? We haven't been there yet!" X tugged Cross's right sleeve as she steps back from the bar to prompt him to move.

"It's not like there's any air in here…" Cross muttered as he shuts off his communicator and places it in his pocket. "Okay... I'll join you."

"Great!" X cheers, tugging on Cross' right arm to move quickly. "Let's go! Let's go!"

—

"Ah! It's just like every girl's dream! Shops…! Cafes…! Restaurants…!" X squealed, her hands on her cheeks as she paced along the sidewalk of Melville Street, the main road of the Commercial District.

"Imagine what the commercial district of Los Angeles back on Earth looked like…" Cross muttered. "I should look it up later…"

"Ughhh… we woke up in the wrong time! Or if anything, terrible timing to forget our past…!" X groaned.

It had been about one hour of exploring most of the liveliest and most casual district of the five in New LA. Bustling with people and cars, there hasn't been a place in this city that X felt most thrilled to stroll through. They visited a few shops and the two bickered over their spending habits. X wanted to blow off her savings on an outfit, but Cross strongly demanded that she save her money for a while longer. She admits defeat after some time. After dragging Cross around, X decided he would lead the way to make things fair.

As they walked past Zalia Cafe and turned left, Cross noticed something odd to his left. Black smoke. It was rising a bit from a distance in a parking lot. Concerned, he stopped his advance.

"Huh-?" X noticed Cross wasn't following her anymore and sees exactly what he's been seeing. "W-Woah! That's not good! Let's check it out-!" She dashes towards the direction of the black smoke in the parking lot.

"X-! Wait…!" Cross runs right after her.

At the parking lot, the two see the source of the smoke. An expensive-looking silver car was emitting it from the hood, and next to the car were four men standing in a circular formation. Three of the men were dressed casually. A man with short hair and tattoos on his wearing a tank top and shorts, another with a bit long black hair wearing a sleeveless shirt and black pants, and bald somewhat darker skinned man with longsleeved jacket and pants respectively stood around a man in a BLADE uniform.

The man with the sleeveless shirt crosses his arms and asks the BLADE member, "Heh. This cars yours, buddy? Then it's your own fault! BLADEs ain't allowed to park here, see?"

The blonde man wearing a BLADE uniform replies, "Well, well. I heard rumors there were ruffians going about hounding BLADES, and now here you are. This is my lucky day. Let me guess- you rocket scientists used to be BLADEs yourselves, right? But something set you off, so you left to form this gang. How pathetic. And here I was thinking you'd be something special, when you're just a common pack of thugs. It's almost disappointing."

The man with the sleeveless shirt frowned and he spread his arms a bit, as if he was ready to raise them to a fighting stance. "You got a big mouth, pip-squeak. I bet it would look better if I knocked out a few teeth!"

"Please. I've no interest in low-level chumps like you. I fear I'm something of a traditionalist, you see. Either give me a great evil worthy of facing justice, or don't waste my time."

"Enough with the fancy talk! Put up your dukes before I END YOU!" The man threatens, his voice raised very loudly in anger.

A few yards away, Cross and X could clearly hear the commotion that was going on near the smoking car. X could feel the adrenaline rush in as she sees an opportunity to do her job as a mediator, hence her pace was quickening. Cross notices X's glint in her eye as she sees the trouble ahead and growls under his breath. "X… don't be stupid…!"

The blonde man was smirking. "Oh, I wholly encourage you to try… But be warned, agents of swift justice always step forth after a chump drops a cheesy line like that!"

With that prompt, X rushes into the scene, stopping behind the sleeveless ruffian with a big grin on her face. Cross groans quietly, bracing himself.

The blonde man notices the two unfamiliar faces standing behind the thug he was speaking condescendingly to. He examines the young man and woman and from their attire of the light Grenada wear and the mixture of light and medium Sakuraba wear respectively, he instantly knew that the two individuals were his allies.

"See?" He asks, prompting the three thugs to turn around to see the two new faces.

The girl with black hair wearing head armor that looked like a white crown of sorts with red-colored ends facing diagonally away from them was about five inches shorter than them. Her chest was mostly exposed but the rest of her torso was covered in black. She was wearing dark brown shorts and boots with orange outlines. What sent sweat down their foreheads was she was an evil smirk across her face as she had her right hand on her waist, right near the silver knife the was mounted in her sheath.

Behind her was a young man with slightly long purple-blue hair wearing a long sleeved purple shirt with a white vest and headphones around his neck. He was wearing a purple lightly plated pants and boots. The thugs had forced eye contact with him due to half of his face being covered. Hence, they gazed upon his glaring icy blue eyes, sending chills down their spine.

"M-More BLADEs? Pfft. This was supposed to be an unfair fight! Why you wussin' out on us like this?!"

The man turns away from the blonde BLADE and growls, "You got lucky today, BLADE. Might not be so lucky tomorrow, if you get my drift." He glances at his two friends with the the tank top and the longsleeved shirt and tells them, "…Come on, boys! Let's make like bananas and split!"

The three thugs dash away from the parking lot, disappearing in the distance. The blonde BLADE sighed and shook his head. "…Phew!"

Cross and X approach the BLADE member by walking a few paces forward. X tells him, "Good thing we came! You looked like you were in a pinch!"

The man nods. "Thank you. I think you both just saved my teeth. I heard talk about a gang that was causing mischief around here, so I decided to take a look. And believe you me, I didn't need to look for very long! But alas, those ruffians saw fit to wreck my ride. I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do about that."

Now concerned, Cross asks the young man, "Those men… could you tell us more about them?"

"What's to tell? I'd hope they were villains of vision and character, but they turned out to be common street thugs. Not to say this whole incident has been a waste, though. I met you both, and you both seem to be something of major players."

X's eyes were widening in intrigue at the commentary. Cross however, narrowed his eyes a bit. _"Villains of vision…?"_

The man introduces himself, "Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Justin, and I'm a BLADE. It's good to meet you."

X waves her right hand and does the same. "I'm X! We're new in town, nice to meet you too!"

Cross nods his head in affirmation. "My name is Cross."

Justin crosses his arms and smiles at the two fresh faces. "Well, you've both got yourselves a new fan. Since you both seem to be cut from the cloth of a hero, do you think you could help me find some replacement parts for my poor car? With the right parts, I'll have it repaired in no time! I'll just… stay here and think of some heroic questions for you two while you're gone. Look forward to it!"

"Of course!" X immediately replied enthusiastically. "We'd love to help, right Cross?"

She glances at him, and gets a nod in response.

"We'll do what we can."

"I knew you'd accept!" Justin happily exclaims. "You're the type to always say yes, no matter how absurd the request may be. It's because you're agents of justice! Such things are in your DNA."

Cross's brow was lifted at that assumption. _"…Agents of justice…? What is he insinuating here…? And what's with the flattery…?"_

He had to nod no to Justin's claim. "I-I'm not a hero…"

Justin shook his head at Cross' modesty. "The classic hero response- bold of action, yet humble of spirit. One such as yourself would never brag about your derring do."

On the other hand, X places her hands on each side of her waist and sticks her chest out with a large grin across her face. "But I will agree with you, Justin! I am an agent of justice! Stopping the bad guys and helping others is my thing, especially as a Mediator!"

"Haha!" Justin couldn't help but smile at X's response. "I like the cut of your jib! It takes that sort of determination to tackle each new evil that arises."

"Right on!"

"In any case, what I need is a pair of anhydrous radiators. Got it? Thanks a million, heroes!"

As they made their leave to fulfill Justin's request, Cross couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he looked slightly down to avoid his gaze directly forward of him. X was concerned and tapped his right shoulder, asking, "Seriously, what's been eating you, Cross? Did Justin rub you off the wrong way?"

Cross' habitual pose of his right hand covering his mouth and cheek took over despite them being covered by his mask. He replies to her, saying, "I don't know if that's way to describe it, but…. Something feels off about him."

"Off?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it…."

"Hmmm…. maybe you're just not used to that flattery? I dunno, he seems like a pretty cool and nice guy to me…!"

"Mm… Whatever you say…"

—

"Please, let me carry one of them at least! I feel bad for you...!" X begged as she was trying to get a grip on the radiators Cross carried with both hands. The radiators weren't too large, but they were heavy as Cross slowed down his usual walking speed when he carried them. At least the shape made it easy for Cross to carry as they had a rectangular shape and were able to stack on top of each other like crates.

"No, I can handle this, X. Let me carry it. And besides, it feels wrong to me to have you do heavy lifting..."

"But you'll break your arms...!" She retorted.

A few feet away, Justin could see his two new acquaintances approaching him with the items he needed. Now within arms reach of Justin, Cross lowered the radiators and placed them on the ground carefully. Afterwards, he sighed with relief, his arms a bit sore from the lifting. X frowned at the fact that Cross refused her help, but it was over and done with.

Justin asks the two, "So, I was thinking... A hero needs a strong, overriding will. You both must have some deep, personal motive for hating evil, yes?"

Before X could open her mouth to answer, Justin's eyes lit up in anticipation. "Wait! Let me guess! They killed your parents before your very eyes! No, wait... you were bitten by a radioactive scripo!"

X giggled at the wild guesses. "Oh I seriously hope not for those two! But yes... I admit, I have a bit, super secret motive for my hatred for evil!"

Cross had to raise a brow on that revelation. _"What could that be...?"_

"Aha! I knew it! You're so close to my vision of the ideal hero, X! You'll pass through all the trials laid forth before you! Overcome every craven trap! Weather each tragedy!" Justin's eagerness begins to rise from the sound of his voice. X's eyes were lighting up with excitement with Justin's enthusiastic storytelling. Cross, in the other hand, only lifted his brow, puzzled and a bit overwhelmed by his exaggerated speech.

"And then, in the grand finale, everyone- even your erstwhile tormenters- will come together to sing of your mighty praises! I've stripped all the unnecessary details away to create the perfect morality tale, and I love it! The whole reason I enlisted with BLADE was to find this story. I'd given up hope of becoming a hero myself, but I knew one or two would come along eventually. I just KNEW it!"

"Aww shucks... Thanks, Justin! But..." X elbowed Cross on his left arm. "Gotta give the credit to Cross here. He did the heavy lifting and searching for these parts!"

"X, no need to spill details..." Cross muttered to her.

After some asking around of some passing faces in the industrial district, Cross and X got information as to where to find those anhydrous radiators: Stickstone Rise which was northwest of Primordia. Afterwards with hours of trekking and fighting some indigens along the way, the two retrieved the parts. The entire journey back was a hassle. Cross refused to have X lift the heavy radiators, and X pleaded with him to help out, but refused. It was a constant exchange of "Let me help you" and "No thank you" the entire trip back.

"I see, I see! Thank you Cross for the transport of the parts! To sacrifice your sweat and blood to spare your lady friend to do tedious physical labor... Like a hero, indeed!"

"I think I'm doing what any other guy would do but, thanks...? X eliminated the majority of hostile indigens in our way back here."

"I see I see... Good job, X! And oh, pishposh! I'm just stating the truth for the both of you! So, now, I'll gladly take those parts from you both and reward you for your great work!"

Cross kneels down to his left and with a grunt, lifts up the two radiators with both hands. He sets them down near the front of Justin's car.

"Perfect. I'll have my auto fixed up in no time. You have given me so much more than car parts today, heroes. Please accept this as my way of saying thanks."

Justin removes from his back pocket his communicator. Turning it on, he begins to type in information for credit transactions. "So... Cross and X, I see you guys' IDs here... and here you go... Credit transfer completed!" He turns it off and also retrieves from his pocket a small rectangular device. He offers it to X. "And this is for you both to share. Holograms! You can display it in the BLADE barracks."

"Wow! Thanks!" X accepts the rewards happily, retrieving the hologram device and putting it in her pocket. Cross nods and acknowledges Justin's gratitude.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, both of you! And if you should come across anyone in need, be sure to lend them a hand. You're both paragons for justice for us now!"

Grinning, X salutes at her new title. "I agree! As Mediator, it's my job! And I love it! Makes me happy, makes others happy! We all win!" Cross chuckles at her formality, which he found to be amusing and unfitting for her.

 _"She has a point, though..."_

Justin nods to her statement. "With BLADEs such as you two on patrol, the people of New LA have nothing to fear. Anyway, I should probably get going. I am a BLADE, after all. Nothing impressive like you two, of course, but a fellow seeker of justice nonetheless. I don't know when I'll see both of you again, but I feel like the hand of fate at work in our meeting. As long as you two continue to walk the path of justice, our destinies are intertwined. When we meet again, let it be as comrades in battle!"

"I agree! It's nice meeting you, Justin! Hope we see you around soon!" X waves. She begins to walk away from Justin, also prompting Cross to do the same. Cross nods in agreement to X's hopeful farewell. "Take care of yourself."

"Likewise with the two of you!" Justin waves back.

Cross increases his pace to walk alongside X. As they advance away from the parking lot, Cross couldn't help but smile himself at X's silly grin on her face. X couldn't see his smile, but his eyes lightening up a bit was not only refreshing, but invigorating her to smile wider.

"First Mediator job success! We did it!" X cheered, raising a fist up.

"You look like you can take on Mira with some encouragement from Justin."

"Of course! Agents of justice! Doesn't that sound great for us?!"

"A bit much, and that speech... It's like he plagiarized from a cliched fantasy novel..." Cross mutters.

X replies to his opinion with a giggle as she wholeheartedly agreed. Her raised fist was now a raised palm. She places her other hand on Cross' shoulder and uses her other free hand to move left to right, prompting Cross to look at her gesture. "But I like it! You can see this in the headlines: Newfound BLADE recruits Cross and X out to assist the citizens of New LA!" She lowers her hands.

"We rise in fame and before you know it, we become true heroes! Let's keep doing our best to help others, Cross!"

"Haha... Of course."

Swaying her head left and right and humming a random tune she made on the fly, X looks ahead and happily walks down Melville Street with Cross by her side. As soon as he noticed X no longer paid attention to him, he shifts his gaze to his left a little to avoid eye contact a bit from X and looks down slightly at the ground. He narrows his eyes a bit and frowns. Cross felt like something was getting caught in his throat and had this nagging feeling in his head as if he tripped onto a wire, triggering something...

"..."

* * *

 **A/N: I managed to squeeze this out after some time thinking of what sidequest to start writing. This was one of the easiest to write about so...**

 **As you notice, the beginning and conclusion of scenes leading up to the sidequest are improvised and original. This will be somewhat common in each chapter. Hopefully I can get something fresh each time.**

 **Additionally, since this fanfiction is tied with my other one, I will reference what time each sidequest takes place during the main story.**

 **I won't be writing about ALL normal sidequests, but I will be taking some requests for some. Let me know via PM or reviews. Affinity missions will be more commonplace, however. Additionally, there will be hints of pairings of the avatars with other playable characters.**

 **I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but it will most likely be an affinity mission. Until then, I appreciate reviews and criticism.**


	2. Determination - A New Rival

**Duality**

Series Summary: A side novelization of Xenoblade X sidequests that takes place alongside the main fanfiction _Uncontrollable_. As a member of BLADE, it is one's duty to explore Mira, fight off monsters, and assist citizens of New Los Angeles. Recruits Cross and X will do their best as new BLADE members to further the organizations cause, meet new people, and face threats against NLA from outsiders and citizens of the lone city. But most of all, they'll learn about themselves and each other, even though their pasts are out of reach...

2\. Determination - A New Rival

Summary: The two new BLADE recruits completed a series of requests and begin to search for new ones to fulfill. In the process, an unusual highly intelligent but arrogant BLADE member believes he can accomplish the mission more skillfully due to his credentials. A spark of competitiveness ignites within one of them, while the other watches in amusement and awe for the two newfound rivals…

Notes: There are some changes in dialogue to include the multiple dialogue decisions, give a chance for the avatars to speak more to avoid the silent protagonist trope, and reactions from the affinity missions. **I** **have also added original dialogue for H.B., as there will be a conflict of sorts that will be shown later in the chapter. In the end, the overall outcomes of the sidequests did not change. As warned, battles and travel is omitted for pacing's sake. This affinity mission interpretation takes place before chapter 5 of the game.**

* * *

It was 9 AM in New Los Angeles, and X was pacing around the BLADE Barracks, glaring at her communicator as there was no response from the one person she had been waiting for to meet. Last night, she and Cross agreed to meet with Gwin and Irina for some downtime. They were to meet up at the lobby of the barracks at 8:30 AM and then meet up with the two Interceptors at 10 AM in the Commercial District's Melville Street. 30 minutes have passed, and there was no sign of the quiet BLADE member.

Thankfully, after more growling and grumpy mutters, X heard the sound of the door opening at a distance. She looks over to see who it was. And thankfully, it was him. She turns off her communicator, placing it in her pocket and glares at her fellow BLADE member.

"Cross! Of all people, I thought you would meet up in time…!" X ran up to Cross, who noticed his clothes are somewhat drenched and his hair dripping a little bit of water from his bangs. She even noticed that Cross was struggling to stand straight as his posture wasn't fully upright.

"And geez, you need to dry off! Get a shower too…! And where were you?! You weren't here all morning!" X felt her cheeks grow slightly warm as she examines Cross from head to toe, seeing the outlines of his chest and abdomen… She had to shake her head and cover her cheeks to hide the redness.

Cross rubbed his eyes as fatigue was overwhelming him that he didn't even notice X was blushing. "S-Sorry… I was doing a gathering mission early this morning to retrieve some items and… I fell into Janpath Lake…"

The poor young man was busy collecting materials near Primordia's Janpath Lake northwest of New LA. In doing so, he was so absorbed from the examination of the materials and even sightseeing the area that he didn't notice a Milesaur was creeping up behind him to get its morning drink. Startled by the sudden movement of the large monster, he falls face forward into the lake. Cross had to thank the stars because X would have laughed to death to see him be so careless.

X groaned as she walked behind Cross and stretched her arms out forward, forcefully pushing him forward to advance his way towards the living quarters.

"Go go go! Wash up!" She growls, adding more force to her muscles to push Cross. Cross, trudging along the barracks, replies, "Okay…! Please don't push me…!" X stops her advance and wipes her hands back and forth to remove the moisture on her hands that she got from pushing Cross. Cross drags himself up towards the incline towards the hologram room. He tries to hasten his advance despite his fatigue, now worried about X's scolding that will come soon after a washdown and change…

—

"Come on Cross… we have to meet up with Gwin and Irina at the cafe!" X elbowed Cross, who was still intently reading the details of miranium collection, item retrieval, and monster slaying on the Mission Control board. Her impatience was getting to her that she began cross her arms and tap her arm with her index fingers rapidly in annoyance. Thankfully, Cross didn't take long to wash and dry up himself and his clothes for a total of 15 minutes. However, time was of the essence, as their meet up with Irina and Gwin was more late than ever.

"Okay, okay… Besides, there's also some missions we've completed. We might as well report in. You'll get your credits and be steps closer to getting that outfit you've saving for." Cross sighed as he finished reading each mission briefing.

"You have a point..."

At the corner of her eye, X noticed someone approaching her and Cross from their right. Turning around, she asks before getting interrupted, "H-Hey, wha-"

"Um, hello? Yes, could you not…"

X widened her eyes in surprise. "Huh?"

X examined the man who interrupted her. About the same height as Cross but a centimeter or two taller, the man looked pretty young, about his mid 20s. With black hair and a bowl cut, his appearance was unique for wearing black framed glasses. He was also wearing general Sakuraba medium wear armor.

"You there, the one about to take that mission? I'm speaking to you."

Heeding the prompt, Cross faced his right to see the young man that was addressing him. "Yes? May I help you?"

"Oh, good. You're a sensible sort. I promise this will only take a moment of your time. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. The mission you were about to take. I analyzed it based on criteria ranging from Pathfinder experience, build, and intelligence…"

X was close to rolling her eyes as she realized that this person was giving her vibes of the person she was standing next to. _"Analysis? Criteria? Oh goodness…!"_ She notices, however, the man's strong yet intellectual-sounding voice was quite… intriguing. He had a more confident and tough tone compared to Cross. A sly smile was beginning to curve up at the edge of X's lips.

The man continued, now crossing his arms. "Yes, well. In aggregate, the date clearly indicates that the more qualified candidate is me. Hector Birtwhistle."

X was now smirking, and she glances at Cross to see his reaction at Hector's confidence. And it was quite a surprise that it made X herself intrigued. He was frowning at Hector, his eyes growing cold and his eyebrows furrowed downward. She could only imagine how much more angrier Cross looks as he hides his frown under the Survival Veyes he wears.

 _"A nerd battle…! How awesome…!"_

"I invite you to set pride aside and allow me to handle this. For humanity's sake." Hector demanded Cross as politely as he could.

Cross replies to Hector, his tone slightly deeper than usual, "I see you're quite presumptuous at these missions with the given parameters. How would relinquishing these missions to you could possibility benefit humanity?"

X felt a strange chill down her spine and could feel adrenaline rushing into her veins from excitement. Cross was a smart guy but he uses the usual vernacular to speak to X, Elma, Lin, and everyone else. His sudden shift to use more complex synonyms to speak to Hector was extremely amusing and it sounded quite silly.

"It's quite simple, really- because I'm more skilled than you. I can offer a total guarantee of success, whereas you… well… cannot."

"Oh ho…" X whispered and grinned as she felt even more hostile vibes coming from Cross at that harsh comment Hector said to him, seeing his cold blue eyes grow more sharp than ever as his pupils begin to grow smaller.

Hector removes his communicator and turns it on. He began to browse the list of missions that he recently viewed and began to narrow his searches. "Here. This other mission should be right up your alley. I believe that picking two samples of zesian fleawort should be well within your abilities."

Cross folded his arms. His head was slightly tilted upward, his eyes lowered in angle to look down at Hector in a very small degree. "Mmph…" He growled under his breath, barely audible.

"Er… Cross…?" X touches his shoulder to get his attention. He did not budge an inch.

Hector glances at X for a second and asks Cross, "To think that you would cause some concern for your companion here… Is something amiss? You seem dissatisfied."

Cross says nothing nor moves. He continues to glare at Hector. Hector was not swayed or intimidated by his looks as he stared at the infuriated new BLADE recruit. Rather, he shrugs it off and shakes his head.

Turning off his communicator, Hector concludes his condescending-sounding challenge, saying, "Ah, how tragic. You now insist on comparing yourself to me. The solution is clear. We'll both complete the three missions I just accepted. Only one of us can finish first. This will provide the loser- by which I mean you- ample chance to understand the gap separating us. Whenever you eventually complete those missions, come find me here. I'll be waiting."

Hector turns around and proceeds to leave mission control in a striding pace. X easily concluded that he was in no real rush to finish the three missions off. Excited, X elbows Cross, saying, "Oh man...! This is intense! Heck, I'd love to see you try to finish these missions before him! But first... I have to send a message to Irina and Gwin..."

X takes out her communicator and inputs commands to send a written message to Irina. She begins to type on the communicator: "Sorry Irina, Gwin. Cross and I will have to take a rainche-WOAHH!" X was caught by surprise as she was suddenly being pulled with a strong tug away from the Mission Control board by her left arm, with Cross holding her hand tightly. Cross was dragging her with enormous amount of strength that she felt as if her arm would be pulled off. "C-Cross! W-Wait! I need to tell Irina and Gwin that we won't be joining them!"

There was no response. Cross didn't even turn around to look at her. He continued to pull her towards Armory Alley to leave the Administrative District. Sighing, X began to walk quickly to match his pace to prevent Cross from hurting her. As soon as she did so, Cross' pull on her weakened, but her grip on her hand was tighter than usual.

X groaned at a realization. _"So... this is how he feels every time I wanna do a mission or if I drag him to hang out. Wow... I got a taste of my own medicine.."_

As Cross pulled X, other pedestrians, BLADE members, and bystanders glance at the two with strange looks on their faces...

—

"Ugh... We... finally made... it...!" X groaned as she approached Cross, who was panting after dashing across Primordia for over two hours, installing the probe west of New LA. "You're... nuts... you know that...?" She asks, her hands on her knees as she tried to stand up straight. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and groaned again.

Cross ignores X's commentary and mutters breathlessly, "...Where is he...?"

He straightens his posture and begins to look around as he and X stood on the fork branching to Division Drive, Armory Alley, and towards the Barracks. He turns to his right to see Hector at a distance near Mission Control, near the Interceptors' area. He immediately walks quickly towards him. X, sighs and keeps to his pace, still exhausted from the 2 hours sprint from the west side of Primorida.

X notices that Cross was forcing himself to regain his composure by taking long and deep breaths as they approached him. It was obvious that he wanted to keep up appearances towards the confident Hector. After a few seconds, Cross looked like his usual self: cool and collected. It was quite impressive on how quick he was to transition. X shook her head and lightly slapped her cheeks to regain her own composure, not to blow off Cross' cover. _"Look cool, look cool... don't make it obvious that we were rushing...!"_

Hector hears the sound of two footsteps growing louder. He turns to his left to see the two BLADE members that he wagered on. He raises a brow on how quickly the two met up with him again and asks, "Finally back, are you? I fully understand that you aren't finished yet, but something's taken precedence. However... I'll be good enough to offer an extension on our little contest in the meantime."

"There's no need to extend the competition." Cross answers confidently, his eyes narrowing slightly. "All three missions are done."

Immediately, Hector continued as if he wasn't paying attention to Cross' statement, "Yes, I realize you- what? Done? As in completed?" His pitch completely changes to bewilderment and confusion.

As Hector removed his communicator to quickly look at Cross' mission log, X pointed at Hector with her right index finger and declares proudly, "That's right! He finished all of your missions! Take that!"

Before Cross can elbow X about her exaggerated reinforcement, that first half of Hector's statement bothered him. _"Something took precedence...?"_

Hector finishes scanning Cross' mission log. He turns off the communicator and places it in his pocket. He quietly tells the two, "Well, naturally, I completed them as well, so I suppose it's not impossible." He crosses his arms and confesses, "Still this is something of a... shock."

X giggles and asks Hector, "Well... didn't you notice Cross' creepy death glare at you when you were challenging him? That should have been enough to know that he means business! Well... actually never mind, he always looks like that to be honest. Always meaning business!"

"X..." Cross sighs at X's usual running mouth of hers.

"...Is that so? Hmph..." Hector unfolds his arms after X's statement. "It seems my initial assessment of you may have been lacking. Perhaps it would be best to brief you both on this mission."

"Please do so." Cross requests Hector, his tone slightly lowered with concern.

Hector continues, debriefing them by saying, "One of our citizens was cornered by hostile indigens in a cavern and attacked. He is a scientist of most considerable repute. New LA cannot afford to lose his talents. Do you understand? Even a moment's delay on our part could risk the future of human technology."

He then asks, "Do you feel capable of assisting me in this operation? I'm certain someone of your proficiency will only hold me back a little."

Without hesitation, Cross replies, "I'll assist you."

"Excellent. Let us set out immediately." Hector glances at X and adds, "Your female companion can join as well. I'm taking a risk on you, you know? I hope you will not disappoint.

"...I won't."

—

It is around 9 PM has been about 5 hours of constant running and dashing across Primordia and Noctilum to reach the destination in which Hector provided details on where to find the scientist that they had rescue. X, usually being the most spunky and energetic between her and Cross, was panting and moaning as they were approaching their target. Throughout the entire time, Cross and Hector were dashing ahead to the location. As they ran, X saw something so eerily different in Cross. His icy glare, more creepy than usual, has gotten more intimidating. She obviously pieced it together in the fact that Cross wants to prove himself to Hector. But... something else was bothering her. She couldn't quite put it in words though...

X takes out her communicator to confirm their location. Her map displayed a rough topographical map of the surrounding area. A red dot in the center showed their current position, and a little ways ahead was a yellow circle, which was the area of the target. Noctilum is the lushest continent of Mira that he and X have seen so far. Towering trees and plants overtaking the sky and various indigens of different species makes the continent more dense and beautiful than Primordia, in his opinion. But it's also much more difficult to find things since its not as spacious as Primordia's open plains. It is even more difficult to navigate at night.

"...Around here somewhere..." X mutters.

Cross glances around. To his left among trees, he notices something familiar beneath the leaves... A BLADE uniform. And upon closer inspection, it was confirmed to be a male BLADE member. He was sitting against the brush, his body slouching forward. "Hey Are you all right?!" Cross dashes towards the injured BLADE. Hector and X take point as they were alarmed by Cross' tone and they see the injured BLADE member as well.

Cross, Hector, and X stand in front of the injured BLADE. Upon inspection, his body was badly injured, with bite marks all over his torso. His eyes are half opened. "Y-You're... the reinforcements?"

Hector answers, "Correct. You're from the escort detail, yes? Can you give me a status report?"

The man weakly answers, "Dead... They're all dead. Those things swarmed, and... The scientist survived... He hid in a vehicle... further ahead..." The BLADE coughs, his voice growing more silent. "Can't... I..."

He no longer spoke. X kneels down next to him and yells, "H-Hey! Stay with me! Wake up!"

"..." Cross shifts his gaze away from the injured BLADE member. He notices that the BLADE member's breaths became much more labored and becoming more quiet as well.

Hector turns around and tells Cross, "Let's clear out the creatures ahead, then evacuate our scientist."

Cross for a second glances at the BLADE member and back to Hector. He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, replying, "...Yes."

X, appalled by Cross' response, turns around and sternly yells Cross, "Cross! Are you serious?! Please! We gotta help him!"

"I want to help him too, X, but, we have a mission to save a very important member in NLA. He's vital to NLA's development that-"

X made a first with her right hand. She looks at him, her purple eyes now glaring at her close comrade. "So... what if it's me, huh? What if I was the injured one? Would you stop and help me, or would you leave me here?"

"N-Ngh-"

X interrupted him again, her tone deep and stern. "...You know what I'd do if you were hurt. So what about you? What would you do?"

No words were said. A lump was forming in X's throat as she stared into Cross' eyes. But deep down, she mutters in her mind, _"...Hector and Cross are right though... The mission is highest priority and the guy we need to save is important but... but..."_

Cross was still taken by surprise by X's point. What IF it was her...? There's no contest. _"...She... she's right... I feel the same way as she does... I want to help him, but..."_

Hector sighed as he broke the silence. He turns to X, asking, "...X was it? You wish to prioritize a nameless grunt over the life of an important scientist? Come now. Be rational. Besides, that man is a professional. He'll die happy knowing his client is safe."

Hector taps the side of his glasses with his left hand and raises it to adjust it slightly. "The choice is difficult for you, yes, as you add the moral weight of the situation. But know that the future is built on the sacrifices of others. This man's sacrifice is not in vain. Now, follow me. We'll move quickly but cautiously."

The bold Hector begins to leave, now heading towards the target area to find the scientist. X stands up and looks down at the injured BLADE member. He is no longer moving. She bites her lip and walks quickly to follow Hector. Cross follows suit, his hands forming a fist tightly.

—

"Dammit..." Cross growled breathlessly as he pulled the javelin from the Thieving Dilus' back. He glanced at the pile of monster corpses around him, X, and Hector. Being ambushed by the Thieving Dilus and a couple of Jocular Saltats was quite tedious as they were overwhelmed by numbers and the limited visibility at night. He has suffered a few scratches that quickly healed, while X was quite nimble as she used hit and run tactics to distract the monsters. Additionally, she was able to patch up Hector and Cross whenever they needed it.

X walks over to Hector, who was dusting himself from the mess of combat. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No. I must thank for your assistance in combat." He begins to head towards the broken car that was against the large tree a few yards to the party's right.

"Y-Yeah. You're welcome." She replies.

X and Cross follow Hector to find the man that they were looking for. The man crawls out from behind the car that had gray and black smoke rising from the front seats. Wearing simple black and gray clothing with black hair, he didn't look like a scientist at all. He actually looked like a normal BLADE member. "Is... Is it safe?"

Hector answers, "Indeed. And all thanks to the BLADEs you're always sneering at.

The man recognizes Hector, and exclaims, "H.B., is that you?! You came running to save me? Boy, I sure did pick the right college buddy. Hooo boy!"

Cross' eyes lifted in curiosity. _"So they know each other..."_

Hector was quick to reply, "That has nothing to do with this. I came here because you have certain skills. Skills that NLA requires. You're death would be... problematic. There was nothing personal about it."

Hector's friend, replies strangely happily, "Same old H.B., heh! Still, you saved my life, and I won't forget it. And I'll never make a crack about BLADE either. Scientist's honor!"

Hector crosses his arms. "See that you don't. As I say, researchers are vital to our success on Mira. But without us, you'd all be dead."

He turns around to face Cross and X. "And you both. You both performed well. Truth be told, I might have struggled on my own. ...A tad. If I can return the favor at some point, I would be open to assisting you both."

Hector glances at X and then at Cross. "And you, Cross. I see now that you are worthy of the honor of being my partner."

 _"Partner?"_ Cross asked in his hesitation, Cross answers quietly, "I'll ponder about it..."

"The future BLADE commander just showered you with praise and that's your reaction? I thought you'd be overcome with joy."

"Oh really...?" Cross sarcastically mutters to himself under his breath.

X shrugged. "This is Cross we're talking about... It's really difficult to get him really excited for anything."

Hector shakes his head no at X's statement. "Our wager earlier states otherwise. The challenge I presented ignited a competitive side of your friend here. I'll admit, I have not been invigorated to do such missions in a very long while."

"I'll admit, likewise." Cross confesses.

Hectors nods. "We have much in common, then. In any case, you both now have the opportunity to work at my side again in the future. Let's spur each other on as rivals and friends and so forth."

"Sure. Um, just let us know if anything comes out, okay?" X asks as she nods at his approval.

"Of course. Let us meet again."

As Hector turns to his friend Solan, Cross and X backed off from the two to give them space to speak in private. X elbowed Cross and put a wide grin on her face. She teases, "Partner, huh? Well, lucky you!"

The purple haired BLADE member groans at his female comrade. "No. Not in the way you're jokingly thinking. Let it go."

"Haha!"

—

As soon as the two returned to the Barracks, as usual, Cross proceeded to the lounge and sat down on one of the couches, turning on his communicator and began to read the archives. X shook her head and next to him on the couch and leans a bit towards his communicator to see his search. He didn't type a word yet, as he was interrupted by X's sudden interest. It was a first for him to see X look over. He glances at X and raises a brow, asking, "This is new... Are you finally interested in reading the archives...?"

"Of course not." X bluntly answers."But... Now I think about it, it's kinda cool to watch you do something you really like. Even if its nerdy crap, I kinda enjoyed seeing you going all out on this."

"Wh-What...?"

She sits back and makes full eye contact with Cross. Staring into his icy eyes, she confesses, "You know, the entire time you were being all competitive with H.B... I was so intrigued on how determined you were to prove H.B. wrong. Goodness, it was so hard to keep it in on how stupid you looked with those big words you started to use when you talked to him! And fighting those monsters... you seemed that you were fighting better than usual too!"

Flattered by her comments, Cross immediately looked away from X by facing left, his cheeks burning red despite them being covered. He stutters in his words, replying, "I don't know why I got so angry with him when he told me that he was more qualified for the mission..."

"Duh... you had to prove to him that you are the King of the Nerds." X smirked.

Cross faces X and frowned at her silly answer. "You know that's not the answer, X... "

"Kidding!" X laughed. She remained silent for a second afterwards, saying to herself, _"I'm actually not kidding..."_

She continues. "Cross... the fact that you gained the trust and rivalry of a pompous guy like H.B. is saying tons. To be honest, I'm kinda flattered by it..."

"Flattered?" Cross asks, puzzled at her confession.

"Well... the fact that I get to work with the guy that H.B. considers to be a worthy rival nearly all the time..." She answers, her cheeks turning red. She covered them by placing a hand on each cheek.

"Ah... umm... well..." Cross was at a loss of words to reply. An eerily embarrassing silence pervaded the Barracks. To quickly avoid eye contact with X, Cross turns his attention again to his communicator and he begins once again his reading sessions in the BLADE archives.

A realization came to X. Her tone lowered as she turned away and stared at Cross' communicator, asking, "So... about what happened earlier... I..."

"Oh..." Cross mutters. He stops typing on the electronic transparent keyboard, his input stopping at [Anatomy of th-] "X, I... to answer your question... nngh..."

X shakes her head. "I'm sorry... I was just really upset. I still am... cause... this is the reality of things. H.B. was right... BLADEs risk their lives for others. So of course you have to be ready for anything."

Cross makes a rebuttal, saying, "But it doesn't mean that morals are thrown out the window... But it's true on what Hector stated. Sacrifices are for the future... And..." Cross was thankful that X could not see his cheeks from his survival veyes. "You know my answer..."

X shifts her gaze away from Cross by staring at his communicator again as she feels a little warm in her cheeks. "R-Right... I hope that something like that never happens..."

"...I hope so too."

* * *

 **A/N: The progress in between the missions for this affinity sidequest was initially on my personal experience in the game: I already completed 2/3 missions that had to be completed to advance and simply had to wait for revenue return. How convenient, huh? I decided to change it though here.**

 **If you were curious, I chose Cross to be the main focus of this sidequest as opposed to X. The reason? She would act as she would in any normal mission: eager and willing, plus the fiery determination to finish due to her usual peppy attitude. Seeing Cross in a competitive persona seemed more appropriate here, since he and HB are similar IMO... Also sorry for the fluffiness at the end. It... kinda rubbed out of me.**

 **The choice in Noctilum was quite an interesting segment... I was conflicted about the choices here. The way the game executed it though was meh, but it is what it is. Hence, I had such difficulty on concluding this chapter, as well as the two avatars reacting to the forced choice in the game.**

 **Sorry for the super late update, as well as the quality of the chapter. I wasn't too fond of it due to my time rushing out something after a 6+ month hiatus. Things have gone hectic in my education. And I wanted to balance out by playing Final Fantasy XV after a 10 year long wait... so things will be nuts. The latest chapter Uncontrollable is currently about 50% completed. My other two developing fanfictions God Eater Tribulation and Final Fantasy Brigade is currently in development, with 5% completed for their first chapters. Because of this, updates will be scarce. I apologize in advance.**

 **I appreciate any reviews and criticism.**


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